


Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps

by sam_gamgee



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-02-06
Updated: 2006-02-06
Packaged: 2017-11-11 02:06:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/473263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sam_gamgee/pseuds/sam_gamgee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Giles comes for a visit.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps

  
To: xander.harris@watcherscouncil.com  
From: rupert.giles@watcherscouncil.com

Xander,

I have some business to attend to in Los Angeles in two weeks. Once it's concluded, would you mind if I came up for a few days to see how you're getting on? Even though I know we just talked about it on Tuesday, it would be good to see you in person.

Be safe.

– Giles

 

To: rupert.giles@watcherscouncil.com  
From: xander.harris@watcherscouncil.com

Giles,

Are you kidding? No, I wouldn't mind if you 'came up for a few days'. It'll be great to see you again. Let me know all the details.

You too.

\- Xander

***

It had been two and a half years, going on three, since the destruction of Sunnydale and Xander was starting to be okay with it. Loud noises and rumbling still made him jumpy, so it probably wasn't the wisest thing for him to come back to California.

He had spent the first two years in Africa, helping some of the local people, and especially their Slayers, learn about what was going on and training them. During that time, he corresponded with Giles every week by letter, telling him more in depth of the things he had learned and found during bi-monthly phone calls. Through the course of their contact, he had felt something change in their relationship as well. It became warmer, more intimate and personal, and even playful at times.

When he returned to England after bequeathing his area of Africa to a small gaggle of Watchers, it felt like he was going home. All four of the original Scoobies, as well as Andrew, were together for a short period of time before scattering across the globe again.

The playful flirting that Xander and Giles had exchanged while Xander was in Africa was one thing, the space between them acting as a buffer, but when they were actually together it was completely different, as if the stakes were actually raised. The way Giles smiled, the way his eyes moved from a warm acceptance to a playful mirth to something Xander wasn't even sure how to describe, teased at Xander and called forth dormant desires.

Xander's new assignment was to be the regional go-to guy for the western half of the US, as well as having his own personal Slayer. She had been singled out by the Watcher in the area as being a "trouble maker". When Giles told Xander this, he did it with a bit of an eye roll, adding that the Watcher was of the previous Council's mindset, so the girl was probably much like Buffy.

When he arrived in San Francisco, Xander found Sammie to be an opinionated 17-year-old who consistently dressed her small body in baggy cargo pants, t-shirts that were at least two sizes too big for her, and her newsboy hat was always at a bit of an angle. And there were definite similarities to Buffy when she was first starting out, after she had gotten over her initial mistrust of anything Watcher.

When Xander got the email that Giles was going to be in his area of the world, he jumped at the chance to have him visit. Even though it hadn't been *that* long since they had last seen each other, it would be great to see such an old friend. Plus, the tension between them seemed to have only intensified since Xander had gotten back to California and he was looking forward to having it resolved in one way or another.

If Sammie was to be believed, Giles' arrival in San Francisco had the distinct possibility of being the stuff legends are made of. She continually made it a point to tease Xander as much as possible about how much the two of them flirted during their phone calls. And since she happened to be at Xander's apartment when Giles arrived, Xander was almost positive he heard her mumble something about the two of them being together when they greeted each other with a hug.

Over dinner, Xander and Giles easily fell back into their routine of subtle and not-so-subtle flirting. It felt good to playfully stoke the fire, because he knew that even though he was sure nothing was going to happen between them, it was safe and comfortable and even something akin to normal. If his life experiences so far hadn't been so weird, that thought would definitely make Xander consider having his head checked. But since they were, Xander immediately jumped to the fact that he was becoming increasingly frustrated by the fact that his and Giles' game would more than likely never reach its naturally inevitable and desired end.

After a quick patrol with Sammie, the two stayed up until the early hours of the morning drinking and catching up on everything they had never been able to over the phone or in emails due to the time difference and pressing obligations. And as they did so, Xander found himself studying Giles and recommitting things to memory that he knew were already there and summoning the courage to *finally* broach the subject of what exactly was happening between them.

But, as Fate would almost always have it, Giles picked that moment to decide that it was a good time to get some sleep, and disappeared into the bathroom to get ready for bed. When Giles emerged from the bathroom, wearing a pair of worn boxers and a worn t-shirt, hair a bit tousled and damp from the shower and looking *way* too good for a man his age, instead of seducing him once and for all, like he had been talking himself into while making up the pull-out bed, Xander did the only thing he could suddenly think of – bid a hasty good night and practically flee into the bathroom.

The next morning dawned bright and sunny and it was one of the few times Xander cursed it for not matching his mood. The night had been longer and harder than he had expected. Giles hadn't seemed to fare any better, but Xander knew that the pull-out bed was uncomfortable, so he figured it would be useless to assume that he wasn't the only one suffering from the effects of their flirting. He hoped that today would bring some sort of head to their game, but he doubted Fate would suddenly be so kind.

After he made breakfast for both of them, Xander showed Giles around his corner of the world. They met the other Watcher and three Slayers that lived in San Francisco for lunch and, after some questioning, Giles seemed pleased with their progress. Sammie met up with them in the afternoon and asked Xander if he was going to be able to make it to the community center, where she hung out and he regularly volunteered, that evening for a presentation she was taking part in. Her almost-pleading-but-hopeful expression had Xander and Giles exchange glances before agreeing to attend, which causes her to beam before giving them the time and practically skipping off to do some things beforehand.

Giles made dinner for the two of them that evening prior to going to the community center and Xander joked that if they weren't careful, the evening could possibly be construed as a date. To which Giles replied with an almost wicked gleam in his eye and a smirk on his face as he said it was all part of his master plan of seduction.

Xander wasn't surprised when they reached the center to find the presentation to be on various dances from around the world that a handful of kids were putting on for the rest in the outreach, since Sammie had talked about it off and on for the past couple of weeks and was somehow directly involved with. She ended up being the hostess for the evening, introducing the dances and giving a small history for each.

The last dance of the program, the tango, ended up being the most difficult, considering that the young woman who was involved never showed up and her partner, rather loudly and in no uncertain terms, refused to do it with any of the other girls in the group that had also learned it.

As Sammie tried to keep calm and figure out what to do, Xander asked if there was anything he could do to help. When she replied, "Well, if you know how to dance the tango, I'd be really grateful," Giles responded that he, in fact, did know how and that it shouldn't be too hard to demonstrate with a willing partner. Xander regretted crumbling way too easily when she turned her pleading gaze on him yet again, and they followed her up to the front.

During Sammie's apology for the delay and an addendum adding that it wasn't uncommon for two men to practice the tango together, Xander's hands grew sweaty and he tried to wipe them as discreetly on his jeans as possible, which garnered a sympathetic look from Giles along with a whispered, "Relax, you'll do fine."

She gave them a nod and they headed onto the make-shift dance floor. Sammie started the music and Giles turned, inviting Xander into his arms. As they danced, all thought shut off as he did his best to respond to Giles' cues – surprised to find that it wasn't as hard as he had imagined and with Giles' body so close to his, it wasn't hard to respond with the inherent sexiness that the dance required. Giles kept the dance as teasing as their relationship had been thus far, building the tension as they went along, so that by the end, they were both panting as they took a quick bow.

The two men excused themselves immediately and headed back to Xander's apartment. As soon as the door was shut behind them, Xander leaned against it and pulled Giles into a hungry kiss, which the older man eagerly responded too, using the full force of his body to push Xander against the door. And when their lips parted, they were panting heavily.

Xander was the first to speak, saying, "So, does this mean…?"

"Perhaps," Giles replied, kissing Xander's mouth. "Perhaps." Then his jaw. "Perhaps," he whispered huskily before nipping Xander's s earlobe.  



End file.
